1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to pain relievers, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to a topical pain reliever solution, and method of making the same, that is comprised of both natural and synthetic ingredients.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice to provide a topical pain reliever using salicylic acid, aka aspirin, a well-known anti-inflammatory. Aspirin has been used effectively for many years in the medical and scientific community as a pain reliever. Despite its benefits, aspirin has been shown to cause certain side effects in its users, for example stomach irritation and other internal problems associated with ingesting aspirin.
Applying an aspirin solution topically to a user's skin, thereby avoiding the need for a user to ingest aspirin, has been shown to be an effective manner of gaining the benefits of aspirin without the potential side effects. However, there are difficulties associated with the ability to achieve a safe and stable form of a topical pain reliever containing aspirin that will remain in suspension within the solution of the topical pain reliever.
It is an important aspect of any aspirin based topical pain reliever to permeate the necessary layers of the integument or skin in order to relieve pain without adversely affecting vital internal organs. Accordingly, an effective topical pain reliever should be in the form of a solution that dissolves aspirin or other analgesic agents and transports it topically to the area of pain where it can then permeate the integument or skin to provide effective relief. Topical pain relievers in the form of solution have been introduced in the past, but such topical pain relievers have traditionally had problems of maintaining the aspirin or other analgesic in suspension within the solution of the topical pain reliever.
Further, topical pain relievers have been known to take effect long after they have been applied to the integument or skin. Several reasons may cause such a result, for example the topical pain reliever may not effectively permeate the skin, thereby increasing the amount of time for a user to experience any pain relief.
While certain solutions effectively cause the pain relievers to permeate the skin, the pain reliever should remain in suspension within the solution, i.e., should remain stable, such that it has a marketable shelf life. Aspirin is sparingly soluble in water. Permeating solutions may degrade aspirin and other analgesics by a variety of scientific processes including, for example, hydrolysis, glycolysis, and transesterification.
The industry has sought to minimize the effects of the above problems and to maintain a stable solution of aspirin, such as the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,772 (Van Engelen et al.). Van Engelen et al. disclose a liquid composition applied transdermally for relief of pain comprising alcohol, glycerin, an analgesic agent such as aspirin or other derivative of salicylic acid, methylsulfonylmethane, and emu oil, which permeates the skin to relieve pain.
The present application discloses a topical pain relieving formula and solution including aspirin or other analgesic agent(s), and an effective method of making the same, which maintains the aspirin or other analgesic agent(s) in suspension within the solution, which has the ability to safely permeate skin and that also has a stable shelf life.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the formulas and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.